DODGERS' LINEUP IS THE SENSATION BELTRE KEYS 7 RUNS VS. WILLIS DODGERS 9, FLORIDA 3.

Byline: Rich Hammond  Staff Writer

MIAMI - After the threat of rain subsided Monday night, the Dodgers poured it on against phenom pitcher Dontrelle Willis.

The Dodgers, experts at upending conventional wisdom, hammered Willis for seven runs in two-plus innings and started a crucial seven-game road trip in style with a 9-3 victory over the Florida Marlins in front of 20,288 at Pro Player Stadium.

Willis (11-3), the Marlins' 21-year-old rookie sensation with the wacky windup, offered little in his first-ever start against the Dodgers, whose offense is the worst in the National League but looked superb after weather concerns delayed the game's start by 31 minutes.

``He's got good stuff,'' Paul Lo Duca said, ``but I think he just struggled with the strike zone and we took advantage of it.''

Adrian Beltre tripled and scored in the first inning and hit a three-run home run in a six-run third as the Dodgers played the percentages and used a makeshift lineup to counter Willis' usual dominance against left-handed hitters.

Manager Jim Tracy benched lefty power hitters Jeromy Burnitz and Robin Ventura in favor of light-hitting Jason Romano and David Ross, but Tracy's biggest move was starting Beltre, and his .225 average, in the cleanup spot.

Beltre, who has led the Dodgers in RBI since July 1, made his first start in the No. 4 spot after being buried near the bottom of the lineup for most of the season. Beltre's home run, a 420-foot shot to left-center field, put the Dodgers ahead 7-2.

``It was down in the zone, and I took a good cut,'' Beltre said. ``I feel better than before. I'm making good contact and having good at-bats, and hopefully I can keep doing that. (It's) nothing (different), just better results.''

Beltre has now driven in at least one run in six of the last seven games and is traditionally a stronger second-half player, even though Tracy acknowledged before the game that Beltre was hitting cleanup only because he is more experienced than Jolbert Cabrera or Ross.

``He's been driving in some good runs for us,'' Lo Duca said. ``He's the kind of guy who can carry a team if he's swinging the bat well.''

Before Beltre's homer, Willis already had suffered. His 2.56 ERA entering the game would have ranked him fourth in the National League if he had enough innings to qualify, but Willis failed to pitch at least five innings for just the third time in 18 major-league starts.

Willis allowed a career-high seven runs on six hits with three walks and one strikeout, and his winning streak ended at three starts. The seven runs were the most the Dodgers have scored against an opposing starter this season.

``I was very impressed with the quality of our at-bats, up and down the lineup,'' Tracy said.

Odalis Perez (8-9) rebounded from a rough start and allowed two runs in eight innings as the Dodgers bumped the Marlins out of a first-place tie for the National League wild-card spot and moved to within three games of the Philadelphia Phillies.

Florida led 2-0 in the first on RBI hits from Ivan Rodriguez and Juan Encarnacion, but after a second-inning single, Perez retired 13 consecutive batters and didn't allow a runner past first base until the eighth inning.

``With the way (Willis) had been pitching, I said, `I have to stop this,' '' Perez said of the first inning. ``If I kept giving up runs like that, I knew I wasn't going to win the game.''

Perez allowed two runs on seven hits, walked none and struck out four. He threw 118 pitches and threw first-pitch strikes to 25 of the 30 batters he faced. Perez also had nine 0-2 counts.

``I was getting ahead of them a lot,'' Perez said, ``and it's easier to work with some runs up there.''

Ross drove in two runs with a sacrifice fly in the first and a single in the ninth, and Lo Duca had a two-run, bases-loaded single to start the scoring in the third inning. Green followed with a RBI single, then Beltre homered.

Rich Hammond, [phone]

rich.hammond(at)dailynews.com